Biden steps up fight against Omicron

BIDEN: “Experts say the COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the weeks ahead and this winter. So we need to be ready.”

Facing a new threat from the Omicron variant, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday laid out a plan to ramp up the federal response to the health crisis.

Biden said he’s making it easier for Americans to test for COVID-19 in the comfort of their own homes.

BIDEN: “That's why I'm announcing that health insurers must cover the cost of at-home testing so that if you're one of the 150 million Americans with private health insurance next month your plan will cover at home test.” (flash) “Now, for those not covered by private insurance, we're going to make available free test and thousands of convenient locations for folks to pick them up and take a test kit home.”

With continued emphasis on vaccinations...

BIDEN: “Go get your booster now."

...the president also outlined new requirements for travel:

BIDEN: “I'm announcing today that all inbound international travelers must test within one day of departure regardless of their vaccination status or nationality.”

The new measures come on the same day the U.S. reported its first known case of community transmission of Omicron.

Authorities in Minnesota said a fully vaccinated adult male who had recently traveled to New York City - and attended a large indoor anime convention - had been infected.

"This new variant is cause for concern, but not panic.”

Much remains unknown about Omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa last month and has since spread to at least two dozen countries.

South Africa said it was seeing an increase in COVID-19 reinfections in patients contracting Omicron, at a level it did not see with other variants.